Cutting means for fabrics and the like utilizing a heated cutting means mounted on a movable carriage

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for cutting fabrics and the like includes a workbench on which the fabric is placed, a first movable carriage freely movable in one direction along one side of the work bench, and a second movable carriage mounted on the first carriage which is freely movable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the first carriage. A cutting means, including a heated tip, is swingably mounted on the second carriage, and the heated tip is swingable into contact with the fabric for cutting a desired mark or pattern out of the fabric. The apparatus additionally includes an absorbent member for cleaning the heated tip after a cutting operation. The apparatus permits an automatic and efficient cutting operation for marks and can be manufactured economically.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus of fabric and thelike (hereinafter simply called "fabric") for marks, and morespecifically to a cutting apparatus of fabric for marks, wherein acutting means such as a heat cutter is provided so as to be freelymovable in two axial directions on the orthogonal coordinate system to awork bench, so that after placing the fabric on the work bench, anydesired marks can be automatically and efficiently cut out of the fabricthrough the cutting means.

2) Description of the Related Art

In order to make one's own place of work and/or one's team clear, or toidentify an individual, it has heretofore been conducted in general toapply a mark, number and/or the like to a uniform. In general, pressuresensitive marks are widely used as such marks. Namely, an adhesive isapplied on the back side of a fabric for mark by lamination treatment inadvance. After cutting a desired mark out of the fabric in accordancewith a pattern, the thus-cut mark is positioned on an object to beapplied under pressure such as a uniform and then fixed thereto bymelting the adhesive on a hot press or the like. In the cutting of thedesired mark out of the fabric, the following method has been usedheretofore.

As illustrated in FIG. 1(a), a fabric 4 is first of all placed on amount 2. A paper pattern 6, which has been formed into a desired markconfiguration in advance, is then positioned on the fabric 4 [see inFIG. 1(b)]. As depicted in FIG. 1(C), for example, a heat cutter 8 as acutting means is then moved along the contour of the paper patter 6,thereby melt-cutting a desired mark out of the fabric 4. The thus-cutmark is then taken out of the mount 2.

However, a paper pattern 6 corresponding to a mark configuration must beprepared in advance in the conventional method. Therefore, when marks ofvarious patterns must be cut out, the production work itself of theircorresponding paper patterns 6 becomes considerably troublesome. Inaddition, upon the cutting operation for marks, an operator mustsubstantially move the heat cutter 8 along the contour of the paperpattern 6. There are hence pointed out disadvantages that marks to becut out hence vary widely in configuration and moreover the cuttingoperation for marks cannot be efficiently achieved.

Accordingly, a laser cutting apparatus by way of example has been usedwith a view toward automatically conducting the cutting operation formarks. It is however indicated for such a laser cutting apparatus toinvolve demerits that its size is considerably large and it isexpensive.

Furthermore, since in the conventional method, the mount 2 is generallyformed of a metallic material such as a stainless steel, the mount 2tends to be damaged when the fabric 4 is melt-cut by the heat cutter 8,so that the damaged mount 2 must be relatively often exchanged for a newmount 2. Therefore, there are pointed out disadvantages that theexchange work of the mount 2 is troublesome and the frequent exchange ofmounts is uneconomical. When the melt-cutting of fabrics is continued bythe heat cutter 8 heated to a considerably high temperature, the mount 2itself is also heated, so that there are often a potential problem thatthe adhesive 4 applied to the back side of the fabric 4 is melted andhence the fabric 4 is fixed to the mount 2.

Moreover, upon effecting the cutting operation for marks automatically,in particular, the cleaning operation of the cutting means has become aproblem. Namely, when the melt-cutting of the fabric 4 are carried outby the heat cutter 8 as described above, molten matter composed of thefabric 4 itself and adhesive tends to be formed at the tip of the heatcutter 8. Therefore, an operation to remove the molten matter from theheat cutter 8 must be performed at relatively frequent intervals.Indeed, it is necessary to stop the operation of the cutting apparatusso that an operator himself may clean the heat cutter 8. Accordingly,the cutting operation for marks is often discontinued, so that there arerevealed disadvantages that the cutting operation for marks cannot beeffected efficiently and it is difficult to automatize the cuttingoperation for the marks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, which is capable of automatically andefficiently cutting a desired mark out of the fabric placed on a workbench, and the apparatus is allowed to be manufactured economically andsmall in size as a whole.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cutting apparatus offabric for marks, in which a cutting means such as a heat cutter isattached to a moving mechanism to be two-dimensionally freely movable ona work bench, and a glass plate as a mount on which the fabric isdirectly placed is provided on the work bench, whereby a desired markcan be surely and automatically cut out of the fabric through thecutting means without damaging the mount itself and with the preventedmount from being affected by heat.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cutting apparatus offabric for marks, in which a cutting means such as a heat cutter isattached to a moving mechanism which is two-dimensionally freely movableon a work bench for the fabric, and a cleaning means made of a sponge orthe like is disposed on the work bench and in the vicinity of theoriginal position of the cutting means so that the cutting means may bemoved after completion of the cutting operation for a desired mark orafter a predetermined lapse of time so as to automatically clean thecutting means by the cleaning means, whereby the cleaning operation ofthe cutting means can be effected without stopping the cutting operationand the desired mark can hence be automatically and efficiently cut outof the fabric.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, which comprises:

a work bench on which the fabric is placed;

a first moving means freely movable in one direction along the side ofthe work bench;

a second moving means disposed on the first moving means and freelymovable in a direction perpendicular to said one direction; and

a cutting means attached to the second moving means for cutting adesired mark out of the fabric.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, which is provided with a displacementmeans serving to displace the cutting means attached to the secondmoving means between a position for cutting the fabric and a positionspaced from the fabric.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the first moving means comprises:

a first moving member freely movable under action of an actuator alongone side of the work bench; and

a moving aid connected to the first moving member through guide barsextending in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction of thefirst moving member and movable in conjunction with the first movingmember along the other side of the work bench, wherein the second movingmeans comprises:

a second moving member freely movable along guide bars under action ofan actuator; and

an arm member equipped with a cutting means, swingably supported on thesecond moving member and engaged with the displacement means.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the displacement means comprises:

a supporting bar extending in parallel with the guide bars, which areconnected between the first moving member and a moving aid, and having alength corresponding to the moving range of the second moving member;

an actuator serving to displace the supporting bar so that the armmember may be kept at a predetermined position by the supporting bar.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the actuator substantiallycomprises a linear solenoid, and is constituted so as to engage one endof a swinging member, which holds the supporting bar, with a movingelement extending from the linear solenoid and fixedly attached to aspring at the other end of the swinging member.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the arm member supported by thesecond moving member is constituted so as to be swingable to a cuttingposition of the fabric, a position held by the supporting bar and aposition spaced from the supporting bar.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein a cord connected to the cuttingmeans is held by a flexible supporting member.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the cutting means substantiallycomprises a heat cutter.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the cutting means substantially agas torch.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, which comprises:

a work bench;

a moving mechanism movable in two axial directions on an orthogonalcoordinate system along the work bench; and

a cutting means attached to the second moving means for cutting adesired mark out of the fabric,

the work bench being provided with a glass-made mount on which thefabric is directly placed.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the mount is detachably providedon the work bench.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein a recess for receiving the mountis defined in the work bench, and an opening is defined in communicationwith the recess so as to be capable of inserting fingers therein toremove the mount from the work bench.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the moving mechanism comprises:

a first moving means freely movable in one direction along the side ofthe work bench; and

a second moving means disposed on the first moving means, freely movablein a direction perpendicular to the one direction, and equipped with thecutting means.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, which comprises:

a work bench on which the fabric is placed;

a moving mechanism movable in two axial directions on the orthogonalcoordinate system along the work bench;

a cutting means attached to the second moving means and cutting adesired mark out of the fabric; and

a cleaning means for automatically cleaning the cutting means by movingthe cutting means under operation of the moving mechanism.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the cleaning means substantiallycomprises a sponge containing cleaning water, and containing a slit cutin the sponge so that the cutting means can be inserted in the slit bymoving the cutting means under operation of the moving mechanism toclean the cutting means.

A yet still further object of this invention is to provide a cuttingapparatus of fabric for marks, wherein the cleaning means is disposed onthe work bench and in the vicinity of the original position of thecutting means and the cutting means is cleaned after every cuttingoperation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readilyappreciated from the preferred embodiments of this invention, which willbe described subsequently in detail by reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an explanatory illustration showing the procedure of a cuttingoperation for a mark according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cutting apparatus of fabric for marksaccording to this invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view in perspective, partially omitted, of thecutting apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view, partially omitted, to illustrate adisplacement means as a constituent of the cutting apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cleaning means as a constituent of thecutting apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control section as a constituent of thecutting apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a view to illustrate the operation of a cutting means as aconstituent of the cutting apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view, partially omitted, to illustrate theoperation of the cutting apparatus;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory illustration showing the removing operation ofa mount disposed on a work bench.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 2, numeral 10 indicates a cutting apparatus of fabric for marksaccording to an embodiment of this invention. The cutting apparatus 10comprises a work bench 12 and a rectangular box 14 attached on one sidein the crosswise direction of the work bench 12. A control section,which will be described subsequently, is housed in the work bench 12,and a floppy disk inserting port 16 is defined on the other side of thework bench 12 opposite to the rectangular box 14. A sheet key 18 isprovided on the upper surface on one side in the longitudinal directionof the work bench 12 and a relatively shallow recess 20 corresponding tothe shape of a mount, which will be described subsequently, is definedin the upper surface outstanding in the center of the work bench 12. Anopening 22 is defined in the work bench 12 at the position close to theinserting port 16 in such a manner that its depth is far deeper thanthat of the recess 20. A portion of the opening 22 communicates with therecess 20. A mount 24 having a rectangular form and made of a glassplate is received in the recess 20.

A cleaning means 26 for a cutting means is attached in the vicinity ofthe rectangular box 14 on the work bench 12. As illustrated in FIG. 5,the cleaning means 26 has a casing 28 in which an open space 30 isdefined by cutting the upper part and one end of the casing 28 off. Asponge 32 is charged in the open space 30. A slit 34 having apredetermined depth from the upper surface is cut in the sponge 32. Theslit 34 substantially extends in a direction of an arrow Y. To thesponge 32, cleaning water is supplied in advance.

A guide rail 36, which extends to both ends of the work bench 12 and hasbeen bent by about 90° from the center, is fixedly attached to one edgesituated at a position higher than the inserting port 16 (see FIGS. 2and 3).

A moving mechanism 38 is provided, said mechanism serving to move acutting means, which will be described subsequently, in two axialdirections (directions of arrows X and Y) on the orthogonal coordinatesystem to the work bench 12. The moving mechanism 38 has a first movingmeans 40 which is disposed on the side of the rectangular box 14 and isfreely movable in the longitudinal direction of the work bench 12 (adirection of an arrow X). Namely, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a holdingmember 42, which extends to a predetermined length in the direction ofthe arrow X, is fixed in the rectangular box 14. A rotational drivingsource 46 is fixedly attached to one end of the holding member 42. Apulley 48 is rotatably attached to a rotating driving shaft 46aextending from the rotational driving source 46. On the pulley 48, oneend of a grooved belt 50 is extended, while the other end of the groovedbelt 50 is extended on a roller 52 detachably borne on the other end ofthe holding member 42. A guide rail 54 bridges the holding member 42over the grooved belt 50 and supports a first moving member 56, withwhich one end of the grooved belt 50 is engaged.

At one ends of a pair of guide bars 58a, 58b, which extend in acrosswise direction of the work bench 12, i.e., in the direction of thearrow Y perpendicular to the direction of the arrow X, the guide barsare coupled with the first moving member 56. On the other hand, a movingaid 60 is fixedly attached to the other ends of the guide bars 58a, 58b,and bears a plurality of guide rollers 62 which separately roll on theupper and side surfaces of the guide rail 36.

A linear solenoid 64 constituting a displacement means 63 is attached tothe first moving member 56, and one end of a swinging member 66 isjoined to a rod 64a, i.e., a moving element, which extends verticallyand upwardly from the solenoid 64 (see FIG. 4). The other end of theswinging member 66 slidably fits in the guide bar 58a. To the swingingmember 66, a mounting plate 68 is attached to stretch a spring 70between the mounting plate 68 and the first moving member 56. One end ofa supporting bar 72 is fixedly attached to the mounting plate 68. Thesupporting bar 72 has a length corresponding to the moving range to thedirection of the arrow Y of a second moving means, which will bedescribed subsequently, and extends in parallel with the guide bar 58a,and moreover the other end of the supporting bar 72 is joined to amounting member 74 swingably engaged with the end of the guide bar 58a.

To the first moving member 56, a rotational driving source 76 is fixedlyattached in parallel with the solenoid 64, and a pulley 78 is rotatablyfitted to a rotating driving shaft 76a extending vertically and upwardlyfrom the rotational driving source 76. A auxiliary roller 80 is borne onthe moving aid 60, and a grooved belt 82 is extended between theauxiliary roller 80 and the pulley 78.

A second moving means 83 is movably fitted in the direction of the arrowY through the guide bars 58a, 58b and the grooved belt 82. The secondmoving means 83 has a second moving member 84, which substantiallyslidably fits in the individual guide bars 58a and 58b and is engagedwith one end of the grooved belt 82, and an arm member 94 supportedswingably on the second moving member 84 through a support shaft 92. Thearm member 94 actually swings from the vertical upper direction to theside of the guide bar 58b by a predetermined angle [see FIG. 7(a)] andboth ends of springs 96a, 96b are respectively attached under tension tothe arm member 94 and the second moving member 84. The arm member 94 isbiased vertically downwardly through these springs 96a, 96b. A holdingpart 98 made of a resinous material is attached to the arm member 94,and a cutting means, for example, a heat cutter 100 is fitted to theholding part 98.

The heat cutter 100 substantially comprises a main body 102 held by theholding part 98, a holder part 104 attached to the main body 102 and atip part 106 formed at the tip of the holder part 104 and serving tomelt-cut a fabric with heat, the operation of which will be describedsubsequently. A cord 108 extending from the main body 102 is connectedto a power source not illustrated. The rectangular box 14 as aconstituent of the cutting apparatus 10 is provided with a flexible cordsupport 110 wound spirally so as to cause the cord 108 to hold in thiscord support 110.

A control section 120 of the cutting apparatus according this inventionis diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 6. Namely, the control section120 substantially comprises a CPU 122, an ROM 124 in which informationsuch as the original position of the heat cutter 100 and system programhas been inputted in advance, an RAM 126 serving to read informationcorresponding to the shapes of marks, the operation of which will bedescribed subsequently, an floppy disk interface 128, a sheet keyinterface 129 and a moving mechanism interface 130, these elements beingconnected to one another through a bus line 132 composed of a data bus,a control bus and the like.

The cutting apparatus according to this embodiment is basicallyconstituted as described above. Its operation and effects willhereinafter be described.

Information as to desired marks A, B and C is first of all written in afloppy disk 134 by an floppy disk drive not illustrated. On the otherhand, the electricity is had supplied to the cutting apparatus 10 and afabric 136 to be cut is placed on the mount 24. In this case, as thefabric 136, there may be used either a fabric having an adhesive on theback surface, thereof by a laminating treatment, or a laminated fabricfor marks having a base fabric and providing an adhesive on theunlaminated surface of the base fabric by a laminating treatment.

When the floppy disk 134 is then inserted into the inserting port 16defined in the work bench 12, the information as to the marks, which hasbeen written in the floppy disk 134, is read in the RAM 126.Accordingly, by operating the sheet key 18, the cutting apparatus isdriven under a system control in accordance with the system program andthe like which are stored in the RAM 126 and ROM 124.

Namely, the rotational driving sources 46 and 76 are driven to move theheat cutter 100 situated at the original position to a position at whichthe cutting of the fabric 136 is started. When the rotating drivingshaft 46a is rotated in a predetermined direction under driving actionof the rotational driving source 46, the pulley 48, which has beenrotatably attached to the shaft 46a, is rotated, whereby the firstmoving member 56 is moved in the direction of the arrow X through thegrooved belt 50 extended between the pulley 48 and the roller 52. On theother hand, when the pulley 78 is rotated in a predetermined directionthrough the rotating driving shaft 76a under driving action of therotational driving source 76, the second moving member 84 is similarlymoved in the direction of the arrow Y through the grooved belt 82stretched between the pulley 78 and the guide roller 62. Accordingly,the heat cutter 100 is substantially moved in two axial directions on anorthogonal coordinate system to lead the cutter 100 to the cutting startposition of the fabric 136. At that time, the drive of the respectiverotational driving sources 46, 76 is stopped.

The linear solenoid 64 constituting the displacement means 63 is thenactuated to displace the rod 64a in a vertical lower direction againstthe tensile force of the spring 70. Therefore, the swinging member 66attached to the rod 64a is swung and displaced in the vertical lowerdirection and the supporting bar 72 held by the swinging member 66 andthe guide bar 58 is hence swung and displaced in the vertical lowerdirection. In this case, when linear solenoid 64 is deenergized, thesupporting bar 72 is engaged with the arm member 94 to hold the tip part106 of the heat cutter 100 at a position over the fabric 136 [see FIG.7(b)]. Accordingly, by swinging the supporting bar 72 in the verticallower direction as described above, the arm member 94 is swungvertically downwardly owing to its own weight and the tensile action ofthe springs 96a, 96b, whereby the tip part 106 of the heat cutter 100 isbrought into contact with the fabric 136 [see FIG. 7(c)]. In such amanner, the tip part 106 having been heated to a predeterminedtemperature melt-cuts the cutting start site of the fabric 136.

Then, the rotational driving sources 46, 76 are driven under control inaccordance with the driving operation of the control section 120 totwo-dimensionally move the tip part 106 of the heat cutter 100 along thedesired locus, thereby conducting the melt-cutting for the desired marksA, B and C. Here, when the tip part 106 leads to an uncut site, theswinging member 66 is swung and displaced vertically upwardly under thetensile action of the spring 70 by deenergizing the linear solenoid 64,whereby the supporting bar 72 which is integrally stretched between theswinging member 66 and the mounting member 74 is moved verticallyupwardly. As a result, the supporting bar 72 causes the arm member 94 toswing vertically upwardly, so that the tip part 106 of the heat cutter100 is spaced from the fabric 136.

After melt-cutting the desired marks A, B and C out of the fabric 136 inthe above-described manner, the heat cutter 100 is moved to the cleaningmeans 26 by driving the respective rotational driving sources 46, 76 inthe state that the tip part 106 of the heat cutter 100 has beenseparated from the fabric 136. The rotational driving source 76 isfurther driven to move the second moving means 83 over the cleaningmeans 26 along the direction of the arrow Y. As a result, the tip part106 is inserted into the slit 34 of the sponge 32, whereby the cleaningoperation of the tip part 106 is effected by the sponge 32 containingcleaning water. The second moving member 84 is then moved in a directionseparate from the rectangular box 14 along the direction of the arrow Yby driving the rotational driving source 76 to disengage the tip part106 from the sponge 32, and moreover the heat cutter 100 is moved to thepredetermined original position.

On the other hand, the fabric 136 of which the desired marks A, B and Chave been cut out is removed from the mount 24 and a fresh fabric 136 isplaced on the mount 24.

According to this embodiment, there are provided the first moving member56 freely movable in the direction of the arrow X along the guide rail54 under the driving action of the rotational driving source 46 and thesecond moving member 84 freely movable in the direction of the arrow Yalong the guide bars 58a, 58b, which have been stretched between thefirst moving member 56 and the moving aid 60, under the driving actionof the rotational driving source 76, and moreover the heat cutter 100 asa cutting means is attached to the second moving member 84. Therefore,the heat cutter 100 can be moved freely in the two axial directions onthe orthogonal coordinate system to the fabric 136 placed on the mount24. It is hence possible to exactly move the tip part 106 of the heatcutter 100 along the loci of the desired marks A, B and C. Therefore,the respective marks A, B and C can be exactly cut out into fixed formscompared with the conventional process in which the cutting operationfor the marks is conducted by operator himself, and the automatizationof the cutting operation can be achieved with ease. As a result, aneffect that a variety of marks can be cut out in great quantities and athigh efficiency can be attained.

In addition, the first moving means 40 and second moving means 83 inthis embodiment only move linearly in the directions of the arrows X andY respectively. Accordingly, there are obtained merits that thestructure of the moving mechanism 38 is simplified and the cuttingapparatus 10 can hence be made small and cheap.

Furthermore, the arm member 94 as a constituent of the cutting apparatus10 can swing from the vertical upper direction to the side of the guidebar 58b by a predetermined angle around the supporting shaft 92 as apoint of support. Accordingly, when the marks A, B and C are removedafter completion of the cutting operation of the fabric 136 by way ofexample, the tip part 106 does not interfere in the removing operationof the marks A, B and C so long as the heat cutter 100 is kept in thestate that the tip part 106 has been lifted upwardly as illustrated inFIG. 7(a). The cutting apparatus of this invention is hence preferable.Moreover, as long as the tip part 106 is also kept in such a state uponpreheating the heat cutter 100 by connecting the cord 108 to the powersource in order to start the mark-cutting operation, it is possible toavoid, for example, an disadvantage that the tip part 136 is in thevicinity of the fabric 136 to melt-cut the fabric 136 unnecessarily.

Moreover, since the cord 108 for the heat cutter 100 is held in theflexible cord support 110 provided on the rectangular box 14, the cordsupport 110 is flexible in the state that the cord 108 is held thereinupon moving the heat cutter 100 in the directions of the arrows X and Y(see FIG. 8). Accordingly, it is unnecessary to slacken the cord 108 toa great extent between the second moving member 84 and the cord support110, so that there is obtained an effect that the mark-cutting operationcan be effected extremely smooth without interference of the cord 108 inthe movement of the heat cutter 100 and so on.

Further, according to this embodiment, the mount 24 is formed by a glassplate, the fabric 136 is placed on the mount 24, and the melt-cuttingoperation of the fabric 136 is then conducted by the heat cutter 100 asdepicted in FIG. 7. Therefore, even when the heat cutter 100 is moved inthe directions of the arrows X and Y to slide the tip part 106 on themount 24, the mount 24 is not damaged unlike the conventional stainlesssteel. As a result, there are obtained advantages that the exchangeoperation of the mount 24 becomes unnecessary, high efficiency can beattained over the whole operation and the cutting apparatus 10 becomeseconomical.

Furthermore, even when the tip part 106 is heated to a considerably hightemperature, the temperature of the mount 24 itself is not raised.Therefore, there is obtained, for example, an effect that it is possibleto prevent the fabric 136 from fixing to the mount 24 due to the meltingof the adhesive provided on the back surface of the fabric 136.

Moreover, the mount 24 is disposed in the recess 20 of the work bench 12and the portion of the opening 22 greater in depth than that of therecess 20 communicates with the recess 20. Therefore, after completionof the melt-cutting operation for the marks A, B and C, the mount 24 canbe taken together with the fabric 136 subjected to the melt-cuttingoperation out of the work bench 12 by inserting the fingers of theoperator into the opening 22 to dispose a fresh mount 24 in the recess20 of the work bench 12 (see FIG. 9). By doing so, while a new fabric136 is placed on the fresh mount 24 and then subjected to a desiredmelt-cutting operation, it is possible to remove the fabric 136subjected to the melt-cutting operation from the mount 24 with thefabric placed thereon as described above. As a result, there is obtainedan advantage that the melt-cutting operation can be achieved moreefficiently.

Besides, according to this embodiment, the cleaning means 26 is disposedon the work bench and in the vicinity of the original position of theheat cutter 100 as a cutting means. Therefore, when the heat cutter 100is moved to the cleaning means 26 through the control section 120 aftercompletion of the cutting operation for any desired marks by the heatcutter 100 under the driving action of the moving mechanism 38, the tippart 106 is inserted into the slit 34 of the sponge 32, whereby the tippart 106 can be cleaned automatically. The heat cutter 100 is then movedto the predetermined original position, whereby the next mark-cuttingoperation can be achieved rapidly.

As described above, the heat cutter 100 is cleaned automatically by thecleaning means 26 before the heat cutter 100 is moved to the originalposition. Therefore, there is obtained an effect that high efficiencycan be attained over the whole mark-cutting operation without stoppingthe mark-cutting operation. In addition, it is unnecessary for theoperator himself to clean the heat cutter 100. Therefore, there isobtained advantages that the burden of the operator can be lightened andthe automatization of the mark-cutting operation is easily attempted.

Here, the cleaning operation of the heat cutter 100 may be conductedeither at every predetermined lapse of time or at every mark,specifically, after completion of the respective melt-cutting operationsfor the mark A, B and C.

By the way, although the heat cutter 100 is used as a cutting means inthis embodiment, a gas torch by way of example may be used. In thiscase, it is only necessary to operate the gas torch by remote control.

Alternatively, it is also possible to constitute the cutting apparatusby equipping an X-Y plotter, which is suitable for use in drawing linedrawing and the like on drafting paper, with a cutting means such as aheat cutter instead of a pen.

As has been described above, the present invention provides advantagesthat desired marks such as letters and numerals can be automatically andprecisely cut out of the fabric, and high efficiency can be attainedover the whole mark-cutting operation, and moreover effects that themechanism for moving the cutting means such as a heat cuttertwo-dimensionally to the fabric is sharply simplified, and the wholecutting apparatus can be made small and manufactured economically.

Further, the present invention provides the following effects. Namely,since the fabric is placed on the mount made of a glass plate to cut itby the cutting means such as the heat cutter, it is possible to preventthe mount from being damaged and heated by the cutting means. Therefore,there is no necessity of frequently exchanging the mount for anothermount and the fabric is free from fixing to the mount unnecessarily. Itis hence possible to effect the mark-cutting operation at extremely highefficiency.

Moreover, according to this invention, desired marks such as letter andnumerals can be automatically cut out of the fabric by the cutting meanssuch as the heat cutter and molten matter and the like adhered on thecutting means can be removed automatically and easily. Therefore, thereis no necessity of stopping the mark-cutting operation for the purposeof cleaning the cutting means. In addition, it is possible to performthe cleaning operation rapidly compared with the operation that theoperator himself cleans it directly. Accordingly, this inventionprovides effects that high efficiency can be easily attained as thewhole mark-cutting operation and the automatization of the mark-cuttingoperation can be achieved with ease.

Although the present invention has been described above with referenceto the preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited thereto and that various modifications andchanges in form and details can be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cutting apparatus for cutting a sheet materialsuch as a fabric or the like, which comprises:a work bench on which thematerial is placed; a first moving means freely movable in one directionalong a side of the work bench; a second moving means disposed on thefirst moving means and freely movable in a direction perpendicular tosaid one direction; and a cutting means swingably attached to the secondmoving means for cutting a desired mark out of the material, saidcutting means comprising a heated pointed tip swingable into contactwith a surface of the material for heat cutting the material.
 2. Acutting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, which is provided with adisplacement means serving to displace the cutting means attached to thesecond moving means between a position to cut the fabric or the like anda position spaced from the fabric or the like.
 3. A cutting apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the first moving means comprises:a firstmoving member freely movable under action of an actuator along one sideof the work bench; and a moving aid connected to the first moving memberthrough guide bars extending in the direction perpendicular to themoving direction of the first moving member and movable in conjunctionwith the first moving member along the other side of the work bench, andthe second moving means comprises: a second moving member freely movablealong the guide bars under action of an actuator; and an arm memberequipped with the cutting means, swingably supported on the secondmoving member and engaged with the displacement means.
 4. A cuttingapparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the displacement meanscomprises: ,a supporting bar extending parallel to the guide bars, saidguide bars extending between the first moving member and the moving aidand having a length corresponding to the moving range of the secondmoving member; an actuator serving to displace the supporting bar sothat the arm member may be kept at a predetermined position by thesupporting bar.
 5. A cutting apparatus as claimed in claim 4, whereinthe actuator substantially comprises a linear solenoid engaging one endof a swinging member connected to the supporting bar, and comprising amoving element extending from the linear solenoid and fixedly attachedto a spring at the other end of the swinging member.
 6. A cuttingapparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the arm member supported by thesecond moving member is swingable to a cutting position on the material,a position held by the supporting bar and a position spaced from thesupporting bar.
 7. A cutting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a cord connected to the cutting means and held by a flexiblesupporting member.
 8. A cutting apparatus for cutting a sheet materialsuch as a fabric or the like, which comprises:a work bench; a movingmechanism movable in two axial directions on an orthogonal coordinatesystem along the work bench; and a cutting means comprising a heatcutter swingably attached to the moving mechanism for cutting a desiredmark out of the material, said heat cutter comprising a heated pointedtip swingable into contact with a surface of the material for heatcutting the material; said work bench comprising a glass mount on whichthe material is directly placed.
 9. A cutting apparatus as claimed inclaim 8, wherein the mount is detachably provided on the work bench. 10.A cutting apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein a recess forreceiving the mount is defined in the work bench, and an opening isdefined in communication with the recess receiving capable of insertingfingers inserted therein to remove the mount from the work bench.
 11. Acutting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the moving mechanismcomprises:a first moving means freely movable in one direction along theside of a work bench; and a second moving means disposed on the firstmoving means, freely movable in the direction perpendicular to said onedirection, and equipped with the cutting means.
 12. A cutting apparatusfor cutting a sheet material such as a fabric or the like, whichcomprises:a work bench on which the material is placed; a movingmechanism movable in two axial directions on an orthogonal coordinatesystem along the work bench; a cutting means comprising a heat cutterswingably attached to the moving mechanism for cutting a desired markout of the material, said heat cutter comprising a heated pointed tipswingable into contact with a surface of the material for heat cuttingthe material; and a cleaning means for automatically cleaning thecutting means, said cleaning means comprising an absorbent member,wherein the cutting means is inserted in the absorbent member anddisplaced in one of said axial directions through the absorbent memberby moving the cutting means under operation of the moving mechanism. 13.A cutting apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein the cleaning meanscomprises a sponge containing cleaning water and a slit is cut in thesponge, wherein the cutting means is inserted in the slit and displacedin one of said axial directions through the slit.
 14. A cuttingapparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein the cleaning means is disposedon the work bench and in the vicinity of the original position of thecutting means and the cutting means is cleaned after each respectivecutting operation.
 15. A cutting apparatus as claimed in claim 12,wherein the moving mechanism comprises:a first moving means freelymovable in one direction along the side of the work bench; and a secondmoving means disposed on the first moving means, freely movable in thedirection perpendicular to said one direction, and equipped with thecutting means.